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Cicero famously said, “one must eat to live, not live to eat.” Spoken like someone without enough variety in their diet, or just the right amount.
I think about eating a lot these days—dieting has that effect.
Yet for all its sacrifice and tedium, dieting does make you take a second look at foods you’ve tried hard to avoid. There’s a newfound respect for vegetables and salads. Nuts are an acceptable snack. And the dieting trend encourages more adventurous eating.
A couple days ago, a student brought in a snack of venison jerky. I have serious reservations about eating other people’s cooking. (1) If I’ve never been to your house, I’ve never seen your kitchen, or watched you prepare a meal. That can be good or bad. (2) I classify deer meat with anything else that could be found at a “critter dinner”—possum, squirrel, bear. I have no idea how you killed it, how many parasites had at it before you killed it, or how you got it into your kitchen. Granted, I’m taking roughly the same chances with most store-bought meat, but food memory goes a long way.
Despite these phobias, I took a couple of pieces of the jerky. It was presented as a treat by a polite, hardworking guy who himself reached a nice ripe age, nourished by just this kind of snack. Food can be a solemn gift, especially in a state where hard times and rural poverty leave many with just enough for their dinner table.
I felt like I couldn’t in good conscience refuse. After all the anxiety, the jerky tasted great: not too salty, not too tough, good simple flavor.
I’ve faced food dilemmas before. Sushi and sashimi—I couldn’t imagine eating it, until I did. Now sushi is pretty tame (though I’m still not a fan of sea urchin roe). Shellfish: I often think, if shellfish had to get by on looks alone, no one would touch lobsters, shrimp, or crab. I wonder about the first person to try lobster—was he curious, or desperately hungry? More than any other category of food, seafood is often a leap-of-faith.
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has written about his first dip in more exotic culinary waters as a life-altering experience. “I had my first oyster…I remember it like I remember losing my virginity—and in many ways, more fondly.”
And strangely, wider food experience often leads to a greater appreciation for the basics. Bourdain advocates for a return to simpler cooking with honest flavors, competently done. Julia Child was of the no frills approach to her own eating: she was said to enjoy iceberg lettuce and Wonder Bread.
There is little snobbish or stuffy about venturing outside of your food comfort zone. And it’s an adventure most of us can still afford.